OF ALL THINGS T HE situation on the \V estern front is more promising than it was a while ago.. If things con- tinue to improve at this rate, the Allies can. soon afford to start quarrelling agaIn. . According to the timetable, the Ger- man Army was supposed to be back in Paris on January 17th, but we should all remember that cimetables are subject to change without notice. . F rom all accounts, Budapest see111S to be more or less firmly in the Russian hag. Now the Red Army can satisfy that old craving to visit beautiful, his- toric old Vienna . Stalin's attitude toward Poland ap- pears to be a Russian version of the good-neighbor policy. He means to Inake sure that only pleasant, friendly people reside in his vicinity. . It has been revealed that the victo- rious, American forces on Leyte were suffering from a grave shortage of sil ver. They had to pass the hat to get enough of the stuff for MacA.rthur's new set of stars. . One can understand why Mr. Byrnes decided that race horses are not con- tributing anything to the war effort. All they do is go around in circles. . It has been decided that Tru111an will . not be asked to take on any extracurric- ular chores when he becomes Vice l)resident. After a long day listening to senators, a man has a right to sit down an d rest his ears. . Republican Congressional leaders have rejected Governor Dewey's pro- posal that they join him in issuing a statement of party principles. Appar- ently even a defeated candidate for President can have trouble with Con- gress. . The \V.P .B. says that it plans to Inake a cut in tires. It will have to be quite a deep cut, however, to stop our determined motorists. -HOWARD BRUBAKER IS . . JANUARY 6 1945 On Saturday, January 6 and every Saturday at 3 p.m. EWT, you can hear The Land Is Bright, a new CBS docu- mentary program. It's a first hand picture of the very human folkways of our country. If you don't know every- thing there is to know about the U. S. A., here is a good chance to hear more. * Just before he changed his address from Pearl Harbor to Guam, Admiral Chester w: Nimitz took time out to express his "appreciation" of radio's effort to help the armed forces win the war. We know this because on the wall of the CBS news chief's non.. sanctum is a photograph of the four news directors of the major U. S. net- works in the admiral's office at Pearl Harbor, with the admiral. What's more, he wrote his appreciation across the corner of the picture. * Elinor Inman first reads, then listens to 104 radio sermons every year. As broadcast director of CBS religious pro- grams, one of her jobs is to scrutinize the two sermons which are broadcast every Sunday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.n1. EWT over CBS' Church of the Air. Another job is touring the country attending clerical meetings and keeping in touch with ecclesias- tical matters. On such occasion she's often asked to speak. She obliges fl uentl y by talking on "How Not To Write A Radio Sermon:' " D ,,, M . I " on t says ISS nman, use your best 'pulpit' voice. Broadcasting is an intimate activity. You're really talk- ing to only one person, 11lultiplied by millions. So talk as though you were talking to only one person. Try to avoid being dogmatic, using long involved sen- tences, recounting the total accumulated knowledge you have acquired since your sen1inary days. Radio's time is limited and compels you to discard non-essen- tial material:' Ministers, she reports, chuckle when she tells them their business, but turn in sermons that are couched in lTIOre interesting language. * For 20 years over WCAU, CBS' affil.. iate in Philadelphia, Charlie Shoffner has been telling people how to patch leaks in their roofs, build pig pens and 39 put truck gardens on a paying basis. The program's called Rural Digest The other morning Shoffner found a letter on his desk from a woman in Sharon, Mass. It said: "Dear Sir: Find enclosed three dol- lars for a subscription to the Rural Digest. I have tried to buy one in Boston but had no luck. I am very interested in your early morning talks. I would like your leaflets on the following: White Wash \sparagus Flag Stones ames for Small Farllls" That's the trouble with radio-no ne,vsstand circulation * - 423 blankets, 142 sewing machines, 115 beds, 313 wheelchairs, 2 tons of coal, 8 playpens, 63 pairs of crutches are all part of the 2180 useful and neces- sary articles which Uncle Elmer has obtained for the sick and needy in the past seven years. Every Sunday at 8 :30 a.m. EWT over WEEI (CBS in Boston) on his program Uncle Ebner"s Song Circle, Uncle Elmer talks about an imaginary town called Pleasantville, sings hymns, gossips with the neighbors, and occasional Iv 11lentions "One of .I our neighbors who needs help:' Then, even as he is talking, WEEI's phones start ringing and offers of help pour in. Over a period of years one listener bought 69 of the 313 wheelchairs which Uncle Elmer's "neighbors" needed. Once Uncle Elmer wondered if someone couldn't help an elderly woman move her belongings to another house. The phone rang; some- one said he'd help, and did. Radio is full of Uncle EImers and An1erica is fuller of responding hearts. When the two tean1 up a lot of nice things happen. · if!.' CBS * This is I I the COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM